Zenobia

Illustrated by Lars Horneman

Zenobia was once a great warrior queen of Syria whose reign reached from Egypt to Turkey. She was courageous. No one gave her orders. Once she even went to war against the emperor of Rome.

When things feel overwhelming for Amina, her mother reminds her to think of Zenobia and be strong. Amina is a Syrian girl caught up in a war that reaches her village. To escape the war she boards a small boat crammed with other refugees. The boat is rickety and the turbulent seas send Amina overboard. In the dark water Amina remembers playing hide and seek with her mother and making dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) and the journey she had to undertake with her uncle to escape. And she thinks of the brave warrior Zenobia.

Zenobia is a heartbreaking and all-too-real story of one child's experience of war. Told with great sensitivity in few words and almost exclusively with pictures, Zenobia is a story for children and adults.

MORTEN DÜRR is the award winning author of 54 books in Danish, which have been translated into nine languages. He lives in Copenhagen with his two daughters. This is his first book to be published in English.

LARS HORNEMAN is a award-winning illustrator who has illustrated over 100 books—for both children and for the educational market. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.